ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



awakened the dead, warned me that it was three 

 o'clock and time to get up. It is dangerous, on such 

 an occasion, to remain a second longer in bed, or 

 the delightful sense of going to sleep again will begin 

 to steal over one ; so slowly and reluctantly I crept 

 forth, wondering as I did so, in a drowsy sort of 

 way, if it was worth the candle to leave one's warm 

 bed at that unearthly hour to go out and shoot such 

 an everyday sort of creature as a blackcock. By 

 the time I had dressed, eaten a crust of bread, 

 and swallowed a nip of brandy to keep out the 

 morning cold, I had come to the conclusion that 

 it was quite; and, as my host and I drove through 

 the inky blackness of the forest, with the light from 

 the carriage lamps casting weird shadows among 

 the pines, I had made up my mind that three 

 o'clock was, in reality, the only sensible hour for 

 rising ! 



Half an hour later saw me ensconced in a sckirm, 

 or shelter of fir-branches, oil a forest clearing. Sable 

 night still brooded over the Bohemian plain, and, as 

 I struck a match to light another pipe, I saw that it 

 was but a quarter-past four half an hour yet to 

 wait before the faintest glimmer of light betokened 

 the coming day. 



What a strange hush lies upon everything at that 

 hour of the morning ! The air hangs heavy and 

 motionless ; the trees stand in silent dark masses, 



100 



